"In 1999 the university changed its mascot from a coonskin-capped
mountaineer named Denver Boone to a Ruckus, whose red cape supposedly
looks like the feather of a red-tailed hawk that used to make its home
on the prairie and the in the foothills during the pioneer era.
Denver
Boone, the official DU mascot since 1968, was unceremoniously retired.
At that time the reasons for dropping Denver Boone ranged from his
obvious lack of sophistication to his portrayal of the Western
stereotype of a guy. After all Denver Boone was a male pioneer and that
could be awkward for the women's lacrosse team.
But Denver
Boone had some pretty special antecedents. Walt Disney drew him and
this cute, smiling guy in a lopsided coonskin cap had adorned
everything from DU bulletin boards to hockey memorabilia.
He
did not fit in with the sophisticated branding DU was about to
undertake. The same company that designed the logos for Denver
Avalanche and Nuggets teams also designed the DU logo featuring the
hawk.
